Girls basketball: Tigers fall in final of own tourney

The Notre Dame-Belmont girls basketball team has already surpassed its win total from last season, when the Tigers finished 7-20.

But they want more.

Monday at home in the final of the Steve Geramoni Invitational, the Tigers had to settle for the runner-up trophy after a 44-27 loss to Moreau Catholic of Hayward.

"Compared to last year, the kids have made great strides," Notre Dame coach Josh Davenport said. "Everybody is back from last season and we had a rough year. Now, they've seen a little bit of success and they were amped up to play this game. Unfortunately, we just did not execute anything very well. And we've got to go back to the drawing board before we start league, because every team we're going to play is going to be this size or bigger."

The coach was referring to the West Catholic Athletic League, in which the Tigers (8-3) went winless last season.

Moreau Catholic (8-2) has five players on its roster hovering close to 6 feet tall and employed a full-court press that produced 32 turnovers.

"I'm absolutely ecstatic we played this team tonight," Davenport said. "Because it gives us a measuring stick for where we are right now and where we need to go in the next 10 days. It does us no good if we would have played somebody of a lesser ability."

Notre Dame held an early 6-2 lead after Emma Pastorino and Sam Requilman drained 3-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor. But the Mariners went on a 9-0 run that ended when Megan Smith converted a backdoor cut with 24 seconds left in the first quarter.

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Both teams entered the bonus just past the midway point of the second quarter as the refs used the whistle early and often.

"It was definitely physical and challenging, especially when we come and it's their home court," said Moreau Catholic senior Haley Joly, the tournament's MVP.

But every time it looked as if the Mariners would pull away in the first half, Notre Dame clawed its way back. Down 18-10, Requilman's hard drive to the basket cut into the deficit with 3:55 left in the second quarter.

Kaylin O'Leary hit 3 of 4 shots from the charity stripe and Pastorino sank a jumper to close to within four points with 1:52 left as the Tigers trailed 23-17 at halftime.

"With the league we're in, it's just so hard to win," said Pastorino, a first-team all-tournament selection who led the Tigers with eight points. "You have to play really, really hard and have a lot of heart. They might be better than you and more skilled, but you have to play so hard. And I think that's what we're all about."

But the well dried up when the Tigers came out of the locker room for the third quarter.

Notre Dame went 0-for-5 from the floor and turned it over nine times, avoiding the shutout over the eight-minute period only after Pastorino hit a pair of free throws with 17 ticks left.

In a way, Notre Dame didn't know what hit it.

"That's what we're trying to figure out: What was it?" Davenport said. "Was it them, or was it just us being amped out and making too many turnovers?"

While the Tigers were ice cold, Moreau Catholic relied on Joly for its points. The 5-11 forward scored half of her game-high 20 points in the third quarter -- the only points the Mariners managed in the period.

But it was enough to end a nearly decade-long drought.

"It's been eight years since we've won a championship as a team," Joly said. "So our seniors, we were just so motivated. We just wanted it so bad."